Companies all around the world are investing in innovations not only to improve the efficiency of internal processes but also to serve their customers better and surprise them with unique solutions implemented in applications and websites. What do you need to know about Artificial Intelligence, and how can you leverage this technology to make your company more competitive?
Could your applications, chatbots, and virtual assistants behave more like humans? How advanced are artificial intelligence solutions nowadays? When it comes to AI, there are certainly many questions, and we intend to answer some of them to show you how various organizations are using this technology to win the market.
Artificial intelligence – what you need to know
Shortly, AI is an IT field dedicated to making machines capable of solving problems in the same manner that humans would – using human-like intelligence to decide which solutions are the best in a given situation. AI-based solutions are an alternative to traditional software that follows strict instructions hidden in the code to deal with some issues.
Some people are wondering what is the difference between artificial intelligence and machine learning. Machine and deep learning are strongly connected to AI – they are, in fact, its subfields. The main goal of machine learning algorithms is to create an algorithm that will be able to improve itself over time by gaining experience to make better data-driven decisions. This process requires an actual person to manually enter the data though, so the computer is not running the whole process autonomously. Deep learning was invented in order to push AI development further.
Deep learning is a type of machine learning. The whole idea was inspired by the structure of the human brain. Deep learning algorithms are trying to come to the same conclusions as a human would be applying the similar analyzing process. That is why it uses neural networks – a multi-layered structure of algorithms designed on the base of human brain structure.
Artificial neural networks – can machines act like people?
Before diving deeper into the actual status of Artificial Intelligence, it would be good to discuss the three types of AI, namely:
- narrow AI (also called weak AI) – with only a few capabilities similar to those that humans have,
- general AI (often referred to as strong AI) – machines capable of the same things as humans,
- artificial superintelligence – machines that would be not only equal to humans but almost superior.
Second and third type are only theories for now. Currently, technological progress enabled scientists to achieve only narrow AI, and it may still take some time before general AI is created.
What about AI development? There is one main question taken straight from SiFi movies: is this actually safe to create such powerful and intelligent machines? Today, nobody can come up with the answer to that. This fear will probably not stop scientists from trying – they will continue to work on AI-based solutions that can improve our life. We see this trend even now in various industries – chatbots handle a considerable part of customer service, we have smart devices at homes and in the offices. In business, there are numerous ways to use AI-based solutions to become more competitive.
AI-powered analytics for business
AI is a technology widely used to power various advanced analytics solutions, especially when it comes to predictive analytics, whose main goal is to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data that an organization possesses, or prescriptive analytics (finding the right way to react to some foreseen events). If we want to consider the real AI, predictive models need to be capable of learning and improving.
Analytics based on AI technology can be applied in many fields. Powerful analytics solutions are crucial in marketing (recommendation systems) and finances (determining risks). Artificial intelligence techniques can also be leveraged in order to improve cybersecurity in your company, by detecting abnormal activities faster. Robotic process automation is being improved with AI as well. Intelligent automation is not a new term and means creating smart business processes, so they would improve themselves and adapt to the changing environment on their own in order to achieve maximum efficiency.
Improving customer service and sales
24/7 intelligent agents
Natural Language Processing technique and machine learning can be used to ensure the high user experience. Nowadays, AI-based solutions are even capable of estimating customers’ emotions by analyzing the client input – regardless of the type of information (textual or audio). With such a technology, virtual assistants can react accordingly to the client’s mood, reduce their stress and solve problems more effectively.
Chatbots
Chatbots are also getting very sophisticated and “smart”. Some can actually make a person smile with a joke or a smart comment. Well-designed chatbots are revolutionizing customer service. It does not take a long time to reach them (unlike human agents) and they can solve quite a lot of problems. Investing in chatbots will not only improve overall user experience, but also help you reduce costs (you will no longer have to hire so many consultants).
Recommendation systems
AI-based solutions are quite popular in e-commerce. Recommendation systems are using advanced technologies to learn what item customers would be eager to buy and suggest it to them to purchase. This may be applied in many ways. The system may recommend a complementary product or come up with a recommendation based on choices of other customers who bought a particular object or service.
Visual search
In our modern times images speak louder than words – no one can argue with that. AI-based visual search method is quickly gaining in popularity in the world of online shopping. Special software that uses artificial intelligence automatically tags and later searches products based on image (size, shape, color). It is especially helpful, when a customer only has a photo and doesn’t know the name or the brand of the product.
Business benefits of AI-based solutions
Reduced operating costs
Artificial intelligence can be applied to many processes. We gave you a few examples from the customer service and sales, but, to be honest, manufacturers have already adopted AI software in factories to optimize their production processes.
Elimination of “human errors”
People make mistakes, machines don’t. Automation of multiple tasks that needed to be performed manually speeds up day-to-day work and significantly reduces the number of so-called human errors.
Reliable business insights
Artificial intelligence really makes generating business insights more efficient. AI-based analytics powers other systems in your company. This type of analytics can help you modernize your business, but also predict possible risks and develop a strategy to prevent or to deal with the outcomes of future events.
AI is the future of business – feel free to contact us and hire AI developers from Idego. We will be happy to tell you more about amazing AI-based solutions tailored to the needs and circumstances of your company.
Andrzej Kopera • Sep 05
